Arman Tsarukyan was flipped off by a fan before the UFC star retaliated by punching him in the face.
As the Armenian MMA star walked out for his main card bout with Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 on Saturday night, TNT Sports cameras caught him winging an overhand at somebody in the crowd.
It was initially unclear why Tsarukyan had lost his temper until footage emerged of the fan in question putting his middle finger up at the lightweight contender.
After being pulled away by security, Tsarukyan was then seen lunging at another supporter as Jon Anik said on commentary: “Couple of dust-ups there DC with fans.
“Looks like Arman Tsarukyan getting into it with somebody on the way in tonight.”
Daniel Cormier added: “Yeah it’s crazy to see him do that.
“You want to be so locked in. That has to be something that matters to Arman, what happened to him on the way to the Octagon.”
UFC chief Dana White said at his post-fight press conference: “Yeah, you might not wanna hang over the thing and grab people as they are walking out
“These guys are all f***ing hyped up and whatever.
“We are probably going to get sued, we’ll deal with that on Monday too.”
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Tsarukyan would go on to record the biggest win of his career as he bested Oliveira over the distance that night.
The 27-year-old immediately called for a shot at lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who beat him by unanimous decision when he made his debut for the organisation in April 2019
Speaking after his win over Oliveira, he said: “Hey, it was five years ago my short notice fight with Islam Makhachev.
“I gave him the toughest fight and the next fight I’m going to win just give me that opportunity.”
However, he will have to wait a little while longer for his opportunity to avenge that defeat as White confirmed at the post-fight press conference that Makhachev will defend his 155lb belt against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in June.
White then gave his reaction to Tsarukyan’s pre-fight scuffle. “Yeah, you might not wanna hang over the thing and grab people as they are walking out,” he said.
“These guys are all f***ing hyped up and whatever. We are probably going to get sued, we’ll deal with that on Monday too.”
